Having just missed out on an opportunity to host their Class 5A State Tournament first-round game, the Lady Bulldog softball team was more motivated than ever to advance.
The ninth-ranked Artesia girls headed to No. 8 Moriarty Friday focused and ready to continue the steady level of play they’d exhibited in the final stages of their District 4-AAAAA slate.
With the words “single-elimination” breathing down their necks, it can be hard for a team – particularly in unfamiliar confines – to stay calm and zero in on the task at hand. But the Lady ‘Dogs had little trouble Friday, riding a big second inning to an 8-2 win over the Lady Pintos to advance to the double-elimination bracket this week in Rio Rancho.
“The biggest thing was, we played as a team,” head coach Sandra Pulido said Saturday. “Like we’ve been saying all season, as a coaching staff, we know what these girls are capable of, and these last couple of weeks, they’ve come together and are playing the way they know how.
“That’s great to see, especially when you’re in the postseason.”
Following a scoreless first inning in Moriarty, the Lady ‘Dogs unleashed in the top of the second, effectively putting the Pintos on their heels for the remainder of the bout.
Elisa Cardenas got the ball rolling with a walk that was followed by a Madisyn Asbury bunt single. A base on balls by Alexa Riggs loaded the bags, and an error in center by the Lady Pintos saw the first run home.
A single by Ale Flores drove in Asbury, and a miscue by Moriarty opened the floodgates. The Pintos opted to try to throw home on a ground ball by Cassandra Trujillo and missed the mark, plating Riggs, but a subsequent errant throw back into the infield allowed two more runs home to make it 5-0 Artesia.
Cardenas, in her second trip to the plate of the inning, then doubled in Trujillo to give the Lady Bulldogs a quick and devastating 6-0 advantage.
Moriarty got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on a single to center by Gabby Aceves, but Artesia tacked on insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings on an error and a double by Adrianna Baeza. An additional run in the sixth was erased due to batting out of order.
The 8-1 edge going into the Pintos’ final at-bat was plenty, however, and although the home team would score again on a single by pitcher Kodie Aceves, it was too little, too late.
Sophomore Kacey Thurman went the distance in the circle for Artesia, allowing seven hits and one earned run through seven innings of work and striking out eight. Aceves finished with eight hits and three earned runs in her seven innings.
At the plate, Cardenas finished 2-3 with a pair of doubles and one RBI, Baeza was 2-5 with a double, a triple, and one run batted in, and Asbury went 1-2.
“We had a couple of miscues in the outfield, but it didn’t really hurt us, and through things like that, you could see how much this team has grown,” said Pulido. “We didn’t let the little mistakes dictate the rest of the ballgame.”
With the win, the Lady Bulldogs improved to 16-11 on the season as they prepare for a baptism by fire into the next round: Artesia will take on No. 1 Aztec at 9 a.m. Thursday at Cleveland High.
The Lady Tigers are 22-5 on the season following their 15-0 first-round run-rule of Del Norte Friday. Both the Lady ‘Dogs and Aztec have wins over Farmington and Goddard this season, as well as losses to Class 6A Hobbs. Aztec’s other losses came at the hands of Cleveland, Herriman, Utah, Coronado High of Henderson, Nev., and Los Lunas.
“It’s right where we want to be,” said Pulido. “We want to be with the best competition. “I foresee a good game, hopefully a low-scoring game. We’re just going to hit the ground running Monday with our last practices, making sure all the fundamentals are fine-tuned and that we go into Thursday feeling great.”
In other first-round action this weekend, No. 6 Miyamura defeated No. 11 Los Alamos 11-0, as did No. 5 Los Lunas over No. 12 Belen, No. 2 Centennial, No. 3 Roswell High and No. 4 Piedra Vista run-ruled No. 15 Gallup, No. 14 Espanola Valley and No. 13 Lovington respectively, 10-0, 15-0 and 12-2, and No. 10 Valencia edged No. 7 Bernalillo 6-4.
The Lady Bulldogs will depart for state at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday from The Mack.
